‘Star Wars’ Missile Fails Intercept Test

WASHINGTON — In an unannounced test Friday, an experimental missile interceptor using some of the most advanced “Star Wars” technology was launched for the first time toward a target in space but failed to intercept it, officials said.

It was the second time in three months that an experimental anti-missile missile developed by the Strategic Defense Initiative has failed to intercept its target.

The SDI office at the Pentagon confirmed that a new technology “kill vehicle”--designed to destroy enemy warheads by smashing into them at high speed--failed to intercept its target after being launched from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

Maj. Mike Doble, a Pentagon spokesman, said SDI scientists were studying data from Friday’s test to determine why the “kill vehicle” failed to hit the target.

In mid-March, a ground-launched interceptor known as ERIS was fired from an Army test range in the South Pacific but failed to intercept a mock warhead in space. The ERIS successfully hit its target in an initial test in January, 1991.